Antoniniani of this series are fairly common, usually with the
obverse legends
IMP VALERIANVS P AVG or
IMP GALLIENVS P AVG.
Only a couple of
types of bronzes are known, each in very few specimens, all without the formula S C which was
still regular on bronzes of the joint reign of Valerian and
Gallienus struck at
Rome.
A new
type appeared in VAuction 275, 5 January 2012, lot 570, though misattributed to
Rome and with the legends wrongly
restored, not surprisingly since the condition is
poor:
IMP GALLIENVS [P A]VG,
bust laureate,
cuirassed r., seen from front.
PROVID A[VG]G,
Providentia standing l. holding wand over globe and
cornucopia.
Copper As, 25 mm, 10.94 g,
die axis 6-7h. Dark green
patina, but the metal shows through in a few places and is definitely
red copper. Dealer's picture below (Gitbud & Naumann).
Antoniniani with this
reverse type are known for both
Valerian I and
Gallienus (Göbl 818, see second picture below, from
CoinArchives Pro / H.D.
Rauch), but this As of
Gallienus is the first bronze coin to appear.
This series is usually attributed to
Viminacium, but I doubt the
attribution, as I have mentioned several other times on
Forvm. This
mint produced Valerian's very earliest coins, before he
had made
Gallienus co-emperor, and I think it must be the same
mint that was apparently producing coins of
Trebonianus Gallus and
Volusian in Raetia or northern
Italy for Valerian's campaign in Raetia, before he was proclaimed emperor. Of course the
mint was probably relocated to supply some other campaign as the new reign progressed, but I don't consider shared
obverse legends with the local
mint at
Viminacium to be sufficient evidence to locate the official
antoninianus mint there too. It could be that the local
mint copied its
obverse legends from the imperial
antoniniani, which were circulating in the
area but
had not necessarily been produced there, rather than
vice versa.